The Olympic Headache which is on the horizon

A good pre-season is vital to clubs for a variety of reasons, allowing new players to link up and form understandings with current players, getting the players fit after a summer away from the club and conditioning them to prevent injuries. More than a couple of people have remarked on the fact that Barcelona’s pre-season left a little to be desired, and attributing the vast amount of muscular injuries their players have sustained at the beginning of the season to this.

It is also worthy of note that players will credit full pre-seasons as a reason for improved form during the season – Anderson has stated that this summer has been the first time he has participated in full pre-season and his form has improved for it. Likewise, the scintillating form of Wayne Rooney – who this debate may affect more than most due to his ban for the first three games meaning that he will, especially should England go home early, have played less games than most – can be put down to the player having a proper rest in the summer. This is something that would not happen anyway due to the Euro’s this summer, but would be magnified further should a player be included in team GB, removing any chance of a break for players should England crash out early.

It is not just English players that are candidates for the Olympic team, but Northern Ireland, Wales and despite strong objection from the SFA, Scottish players. Again these players although not playing in the Euro’s would lose the chance of a break during the summer and the chance of pre-season, and possibly playing in the Community Shield. For a player such as Ryan Giggs, whose name has been mooted as a potential squad member, a rest in the summer and a good pre-season is vital, and one can only imagine Fergie’s reaction to this potential situation.

The issue of players sustaining injury playing for team GB would also be a problem, especially if managers have objections to their players taking part when they should be with their clubs, and potential litigation seems a likely outcome should this situation arise.

Either way, with managers already uncomfortable with the prospect of Euro 2012 approaching, the prospect of them losing key players for an extended period of time which will directly impact on the club’s pre-season and potentially the season to come, expect this debate to gain momentum as the summer gets ever closer.

The article was written by Rebecca Knight for FootballFancast.com. Make sure to check out the latest news, blogs and podcasts at FFC – ed.

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